The 45-year-old actor stars alongside 'Skins' star Nicholas Hoult, 24, in the latest instalment of the Marvel comic book franchise and he's admitted that he felt really old when he told him he'd watched the first film as a child.

He told ELLE magazine: ''The first day we shot in the X-Mansion, Nic said, 'I'm sorry, but this is just so cool because I saw you walking down these halls when I was 10 years old.' And I said, 'I know that's meant as a compliment, but it still stings a little, mate.' ''

Hoult's girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence, 23, and Ellen Page, 27, also star in the film and Hugh admits he felt like their dad when they were messing about on set.

He explained: ''That bunch were close on set, all partying together, shooting each other with BB guns in the trailer park.

''I thought, 'I'm not going to shush them, because if I tell them to stop they'll just shoot at my trailer window. So I stayed inside - that's when you realise you're the old man now.''